More Celebutard Strip Tease from Meghan McCain

Meghan McCain has tried to milk her fifteen minutes of fame by courting controversy.  First, Ms. McCain took an up front role for her father, Senator John McCain (R-AZ), during his Maverick 2008 Presidential campaign.  Then Meghan allowed herself to be used as a youthful go to GOP dissenting voice for the media during much of the Obama Administration.  Eventually, Meghan landed a gig with MSNBC where she revealed herself, or at least her intellectual level.

Instead of being content to get a media gig as a legacy with the Lamestream Media, Meghan McCain is driven to the spotlight, much like a moth to a flame.  So Ms. McCain recently played Twenty Questions with Playboy.  If the mere act of consenting to an interview with Playboy did not burnish her burgeoning reputation of already being a big boob, consider a couple of her answers. 

David Hockman asked on behalf of Playboy’s “readers”  asked Meghan to imagine life if her father had won his quest for the Presidency.  Meghan answered honestly: You would have the craziest first daughter ever, who’d be making ridiculous headlines and hurting the administration every step of the way.”.  No wonder why the Lamestream Media lionized her as the youth spokesman for the GOP before she joined MessNBC (sic.).

Moreover, Meghan tried to gin up publicity by denying that she was a lesbian, even though no one suggested that she was.  Meghan confessed: 

I’m not a lesbian, if that’s what you’re asking. I’d be the first person to tell the world I was gay. I’m not private about anything. I think you should live how you should live. But I’m strictly dickly. I can’t help it. I love sex and I love men. [Emphasis added].

Very revealing.  But is it appropriate for a reputable reporter, a political pundit or even a kid who cares about her father’s reputation?

Unlike the progressive media campaign to rush Limbaugh off the airwaves for controversial subjects, there is no need to make Meghan a media martyr.  But what do you call a public figure who feels compelled to make headlines with catchy but stupid quips. After the Fluke Flap, let’s just call her a “Publicity Hound”.  Between Meghan McCain's  reporting debut, her titillating Twitter Tweets and her self indulgent game of Twenty Questions, news junkies can make appropriate judgments about the quality of journalism at MSNBC.

h/t: Daily Caller

Big Shock: In Memoriam of Andrew Breitbart (1969-2012)--Information Entrepreneur

Andrew Breitbart at CPAC 2012  /photo: Brian Matt

Andrew Breitbart, the internet entrepreneur and conservative activist, died of natural causes at the age of 43.

Breitbart graduated from Tulane University in 1991 with what he termed “no sense of [his] future whatsoever.”  After trying some stints with film production and cable television, Breitbart became acquainted with the nascent Drudge Report in 1995, when it was still an email newsletter.  Breitbart thought Matt Drudge’s news aggregation site was “...by far the coolest thing on the internet” so he sought to be “Matt Drudge’s bitch” by selecting and posting newslinks to the site.  Breitbart also assisted Arriana Huffington when she sported moderate Republic guise to set up the Huffington Post. Later, Breitbart set up his own internet media empire, including: Breitbart.com, Breitbart.tv, BigGovernment.com, BigHollywood.com, BigJournalism.com, BigPeace.com.  As conservative media commentator Monica Crowley put it: "Andrew was doing the job that the Main Streem Media won't do."

Although Breitbart worked in journalism, he had no illusion about the ersatz objectivity of reporters. In his autobiography Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World (2011), Breitbart saw himself as a volunteer in the New Media army who served in the front lines fighting against the Democrat-Media Complex in the war to gain control of the American narrative.

Breitbart evolved from maintaining news aggregation sites to doing investigative journalism when Breitbart broke the ACORN abuse.  Investigative activists James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles visited various ACORN offices with a hidden camera posing as a pimp and an under-aged prostitute who wanted ACORN’s assistance.  ACORN routinely turned a blind eye to the purported illegal activities. Breitbart used this investigative journalism to launch his website BigGovernment. But Breitbart also counseled O’Keefe to release the damning videos in dribs and drabs to sustain the story and effectuate change, rather than a media feeding frenzy that is quickly dismissed as “yesterday’s news”.   The Big Government expose on ACORN influenced Congress to federally defund the community fundraising organization, although it has reconstituted itself under other auspices.

Although the ACORN incident showed how Breitbart knew to sustain a news story by strategic publishing, Breitbart also knew how to seize the day.  This was especially true with Weiner-Gate.  Breitbart was in the forefront of publishing the explicit materials of himself that former Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY 9th) shared on social media.  But when Weiner finally decided to personally address the situation, Weiner tried to manipulate the press cycle to put his best foot foreword.  Weiner was supposed to give a presser at 4 p.m. but he waited over an hour to start the event as he thought that he could control the narrative so that time pressed TV newscasts would either give him unfiltered live coverage or force a spoon fed summation without analysis or contradiction.  Breitbart was on the seen of the Weiner press conference.  As the delay continued, Breitbart walked right up to the podium to defend himself over his journalism.  Weiner had successfully stonewalled the scandal until then, but he lost control of the narrative and soon after had to resign.

Breitbart knew the importance of putting a picture to a story.  The ACORN undercover videos had a greater resonance than a text news story.  The same is true with the scantily closed Twitter photos of Anthony Weiner in his Congressional office.  In 2004, before the advent of YouTube, Breitbart was able to get his hands on video of Teresa Heinz Kerry screaming at a reporter.  Breitbart posted in on the Drudge Report and it got more than a million hits in a day. When Agriculture office Shirley Sherrod gave an incendiary speech before the NAACP, BigGovernment posted video which showed Sherrod given what was tantamount to racial discrimination to a white farmer, which led her to be fired from her job.  During the 2012 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Breitbart gave a barnburner of a speech in which he alluded to having damning videos of Barack Obama in his youth, but withheld them for the right time.



After news of Breitbart’s death broke, conservative commentator Jonah Goldberg observed on FoxNews that: “[Breitbart] was the modern conservative iteration of a 1960s radical... When I say he was the most fearless guy I ever knew, it really is true. I mean, he truly loved the fight.”

Breitbart (center) at CPAC 2012 / photo: Brian Matt

The night that he passed away, Breitbart gave a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt which indicated that Breitbart was relishing for a legal battle with David Schuster over the libeling of James O’Keefe.  Breitbart also enjoyed confronting Occupy protestors. Breitbart was in the process of finalizing a film to be released in conjunction with Citizens United “Occupy Unmasked”, which would document the well funded, co-ordinated anarchism with the so-called “99%-ers”.  Breitbart was in the process of finalizing a film to be released in conjunction with Citizens United “Occupy Unmasked”, which would document the well funded, co-ordinated anarchism with the so-called “99%-ers”.



Liberally oriented social media erupted in hate at the news of Breitbart’s death.  This is somewhat ironic, considering how far Breitbart stuck his neck out for conservatives to embrace right minded homosexuals.  But to paraphrase Winston Churchill, having enemies shows that you stood up for something.  And as Congressman Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI 11th) reminisced: "There was no stopping Andrew Breitbart from fighting the good fight with every fiber of his soul."

Liberals may lament Breitbart’s brash and pugnacious style.  But Breitbart deserves kudos for being an information entrepreneur.  He recognized that the Internet could intensify the news cycle and could circumvent the Democrat-Media Complex.  Instead of settling to be a successful news aggregator, Breitbart delved into investigative journalism to do stories that the Lamestream Media would shun because it did not fit into their progressive rose colored glasses.  Breitbart knew how to leverage a news cycle.  Although some questioned showing snippets of provocative video, Breitbart was also renowned for including extended video clips so motivated viewers could decide for themselves. Moreover, Breitbart instinctively appreciated the importance of linking images to stories to put information over the top of public indifference.

May Andrew Breitbart rest in peace with some consolation to his young family.  And may Breitbart’s legacy and example loom large for the New Media on the battlefield for control of the American narrative.

Terminus of the Cain Train

Atlanta originated from the settlement known as “Terminus” because that was the end of the line for the railroads to the south in the 1830s.  Hence it was fitting that Herman Cain terminated his campaign for the GOP Presidential nomination in Atlanta.

Do not be fooled by Cain’s announcement that he was “suspending” his campaign.  That is a fiction for the FEC which allows Cain to continue collecting campaign contributions to defray costs.  Cain claimed that his campaign was engaging “Plan B” to establish TheCainsolutions.com to continue to be a voice for the people to advocate for the 9-9-9 tax overhaul plan as well as American energy independence.

Cain’s Plan B was a graceful way to withdraw from the Presidential race, especially after making his supporters wait three hours for his announcement at the opening of his new Atlanta campaign headquarters.  Cain prided himself on not being a politician but a problem solver but it is dubious if Cain will still command the spotlight after he has exited the Presidential stage.

Although the unproven allegation of adultery on top of the sideshow of sexual harassment claims unquestionably precipitated Cain’s withdrawal from the nomination race, it was not the only reason the Hermanator was dropping in the polls.  Clumsy answers about abortion, foreign policy flubs and increased scrutiny over the ramifications of the 9-9-9 plan prompted Tea Party types to find another alternative to Gov. Mitt Romney.

Most of the coverage of the Presidential race revolves around feeding frenzies over scandals, highlighting high profile flubs and the horse race between candidates as measured by the polls.  Cain may have been scoring well in the polls during September and October, but he was not doing what political psephologists consider essential for winning the nomination.  While Cain was topping the polls, instead of capitalizing on his success by going to Iowa which was a must win for him, Cain kept his commitment to do a book signing in Memphis, Tennessee.  The Iowa Caucus not only requires lots of retail campaigning but also needs to have a strong ground gain herding potential supporters to show up to the Caucus on the evening of January 3rd.  In late September, Cain still had a skeletal staff of a half dozen workers in the Hawkeye state.

Cain may have been stunned at the support that he garnered in the run up to the nomination process. Perhaps Cain’s candidacy may have been started been more to promote the nascent Cain 9-9-9 policy while raising his personal profile rather to actually win the nomination.  Now he will be able to sell his book, promote his plan to radically redo tax policy and stop the scrutiny which threatened to tear his marriage apart.

Considering how quickly the Cain accusers disappeared after the Gloria Allred feeding frenzy fizzled, it is reasonable to consider the latest allegation as Ginger White’s lie.  But regardless of the merits of her claims, the meme had been successfully planted amongst casual political observers that “Where there is smoke, there is fire.”  This hardball political tactic may make a reappearance later in the election season.

On the one hand former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA 6th) has a messy personal life with two divorces with dicey circumstances. However, Gingrich approached the campaign as an open book, and so far ad hominem attacks on messy mores has been limited.  Whether this laissez-faire attitude with the electorate will continue when Obama surrogates on the media as well as in the media seriously start slinging mud remains to be seen.

On the other hand, Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) has a squeaky clean reputation.  In fact, Romney recently admitted to People magazine that he had once tried beer and a cigarette as a wayward teenager but never did it again.  Romney’s venial admission was much more believable than President Bill Clinton claiming that he smoked marijuana but never inhaled.  So politically stoning Romney as a reprobate probably won’t work but keying off of being a flip-flopper could have the same insidious effect that it had on the Democrats 2004 Presidential Nominee Senator John Kerry (D-MA).

Aside from offering the Cain solutions, Herman Cain may give an endorsement to some of the candidates remaining in the race.  While Cain was only polling 4% in Iowa when he effectively withdrew, that could make a difference to a second tier candidate like former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) or Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN 6th).  Cain could throw in with a perceived frontrunning like Gingrich and consider himself kingmaker and harbor hopes of the Veep-stakes.  Or Cain could curry favor with a campaign organization that was likely to help him pay off any campaign debts.

Irregardless of  how Cain capitalizes on his increased GOP statute after his run, expect to hear the Hermanator's booming voice during the Tampa convention and doing  his all to ensure that there is change at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.


H/T Caglecartoons.com

CAIN-ing

• Lynching:  To punish (a person) without legal process or authority, especially by hanging, for a perceived offense or as an act of bigotry.

• Caining: To punish (a Black Conservative Republican) without legal process or authority, especially by sexual accusation, for a perceived offense (of threatening the “minority” base of Progressive Liberal Democrats) or as an act of bigotry (for engaging in “critical thought”).         

                                            ~Frantz Emmanuel Kebreau

Once again the Republican race for the Presidential nomination has been embroiled by a sex scandal attributed to Georgia businessman Herman Cain.

The prior barrage involved fifteen year old allegations of sexual harassment while Cain was the head of the National Restaurant Association.  After the anonymous allegations proffered by an attorney against a client’s wishes did not succeed in sinking Cain, the ante was upped.

Publicity hungry celebrity attorney Gloria Allred trotted out Sharon Bialek to a press conference to offer an uncorroborated story from the late 1990s which sounded more like sexual assault. But Bialek supposedly only vaguely told two people, including her pediatrician “boyfriend” (who had recommended soliciting Cain’s help).

This cock and bull show did not result in Cain dropping out of the Presidential race.  In fact, it prompted record fundraising.  So a week later, Attorney Allred brought out the “boyfriend”, who could not have knowing anything contemporaneously if we believed alleged victim Bialek.  At that point, the feeding frenzy ended but the mud still sullied Cain.

Even though Cain had an uptick in fundraising, he has precipitously plummeted in the polls. Granted, Cain’s stumbling on an answer about Libya to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel along with two debates centering on Cain’s bête noire of foreign policy did not help.

Now, after the Thanksgiving news lull, there is yet another Cain accuser. Instead of alleging sexual harassment, Ginger White claims that she has carried on a fifteen year affair with the former pizza magnet. White claims that the relationship was curtailed eight months ago, just as Cain was announcing his run for the Presidency.

Democrats gleefully charge marital infidelity and hypocrisy, forgetting the mantra in defending B.J. Clinton in 1998 that consensual sex is a personal matter.  Of course, Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals (1971) commands: “Make opponents live up to their own book of rules. ‘You can kill them with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity.’”

There is a drumbeat from the Lamestream Media for Cain to withdraw from the race.  But in 2007, former Senator John Edwards (D-NC) carried on an affair (and impregnated) his Presidential campaign’s videographer Rielle Hunter who travelled on the press plane as his wife died of cancer, yet it was only the National Enquirer which reported the dalliance.

While it would be more profitable to consider the real issues of the GOP race, rather than wading through the snippets of information surrounding White’s allegation, we must consider the credibility of the accuser and the plausibility of the claims.

Ginger White is a down on her luck single mother who unsuccessfully sued a former employer for sexual harassment.  It’s a similar pattern of women making multiple sexual harassment claims–not for Cain but for the accusers like Bialek and Karen Karshaar.

Another question that should be considered is what sort of relationship White claims to have with Cain as he was a stage 4 Prostate Cancer patient.  Frankly, it is not titillating to know the details. But not that the facts matter when mud slinging.

It would be surprising if Herman Cain, a Baptist Minister who has been married to his wife for 41 years, was a cad and did not expect the details to come out as he as scrutinized by the press.  If one were to believe all of the allegations against Cain, he is a political “Dr. Jeckell and Mr. Hyde”.

Political partisans rejoiced at jabbing the black conservative candidate as “Sugar Cain”.  Perhaps it goes along with the crude monicker of “Tea Baggers”, but this should not be surprising for what Ann Coulter labeled the “Demonic”.  But this mudslinging seems to have worked among casual political observers who can remember every salacious detail of the accusation and tut tut, yet they do not want to listen to facts which actually expose slanders. It reminds me of former Reagan Administration Labor Secretary Raymond Donivan, after being totally acquitted of larceny and fraud charges who quipped “Which office do I go to get my reputation back?”

During the three years of President Obama’s term, the economy is in the doldrums and little hope of significant improvement by election time.  The Democrats had complete control of the House and the Senate and Obama should have been able to pass anything he wanted.  Instead, the legislative achievement of Obamacare is still manifestly unpopular and may be unconstitutional.  Despite voicing support for the Occupy Movement, even left wingers are upset with Obama.  So Obama will be unable to run for re-election with the warm fuzzy “Hope and Change” mantra.  Obama 2012 is trying to raise $1 Billion for the campaign and has the bully pulpit, a compliant Lamestream Media which mostly seems to sympathize with Obama.  Expect the re-election campaign will be focused on negatively portraying the Republicans, exploiting every fissure and foible.  Expect to see more of this special scrutiny on the GOP for the next year.

There is a palpable perception in right wing media circles that Cain may be effectively diminished by this charge (true or not), but that it is a media hatchet job.  The 2000 Presidential Election was nearly thrown to Vice President Al Gore after a last minute Opposition Research leak that then Gov. George W. Bush (R-TX) had a DUI charge in 1976.

While Herman Cain’s star had already started to fade in the GOP Primary constellation, as Tea Party types gravitated towards Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) as the “non-Romney” candidate, the persistence of the media’s Caining is taking Borking to a new level in the political process. And I weep for the future.

H/T A.F Branco ConservativeDailynews

Miss American Pie?

Sharon Bialek accusing Herman Cain

Stifler's Mom (Jennifer Coolidge) 

Shortly after Sharon Bialek's explosive yet uncorraborated allegations against GOP Presidential candidate Herman Cain, a reporter shouted a compliment for her stylish appearance which Bialek happily accepted.  She may be a dedicated follower of fashion, but one can not help but acknowledge Misfit Politics aesthetic appraisal that Ms. Bialek looked strikingly similar to Stifler's Mom from American Pie 1.

Sharon Bialek made serious charges of unwanted sexual advances against Herman Cain from fifteen years before, but she never pursued it with the police nor did she bother to tell anyone in detail until last week.  Pro arguendo, Bialek’s specific but unsubstantiated account sounded close to sexual assault.  Yet her legal representative, publicity hungry celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, smeared the candidate with a crude double entendre political jibe “Mr. Cain instead decided to try to provide her with his idea of a stimulus package.”  So should we conclude from attorney Allred that sexual assault is a laughing matter or that she is just a political tool?

If the court of public opinion is going to pass judgment on Herman Cain for such allegations, it is only fair to judge the character and presentation of the accuser.  Veteran Chicago TV Anchor Bill Kurtis alludes that Bialek was a CBS employee that had a "track record". Herman Cain sought to simply characterize Bialek as a troubled woman.

Don McLean’s album American Pie (1971) has an iconic song about the “Day the Music Died” that can be interpreted as recounting how innocence as lost during the turbulent 1960s.  However, the original  American Pie film (1999) was about four boys who made a pact to lose their virginity before their high school graduation.  One of the boys, who came to the prom after party dateless, has an encounter with Stifler’s mother reminiscent of Mrs. Robinson’s cougar aggressiveness from The Graduate (1967).

If we were still a nation of laws, there would be a presumption of innocence against the accused and these serious charges would have been adjudicated in a timely manner in a court of law.  But instead scurrilous uncorroborated charges are made to sway the court of public opinion. The Lamestream Media proffers the charges which can devastate a figure in the middle of the feeding frenzy but never stick around long enough to vet the facts.

In the case of Sharon Bialek, why was this not reported as a sexual assault to authorities?  For that matter, why did she supposedly vaguely allude to this traumatic incident only to  two men fifteen years ago and then she keep silent until a fortnight ago?  Surely Bialek’s oft-referenced boyfriend at the time would have wanted to know details if her prospective mentor was getting fresh with her.  And what about Bialek’s close encounter with candidate Cain at a Chicago-land Teacon last month.  Reports of a show down about coming clean are impeached by eyewitnesses.

Had Bialek’s charges been made contemporaneously, they could have been properly addressed by authorities (police, the Nat’l Restaurant Association etc...) But raising going on a media campaign fifteen years later may generate some headlines the drive by media has mostly moved on to the next sensational headline rather than actually reporting and vetting the veracity of the charges.

Some cynics say that details do not matter as much as a marvelous appearance.  Pundits make snap judgments about how Cain’s sartorial choice of double breasted suits as intending to convey executive swagger but has an off-putting in your face authoritarian edge which compounds his charges of sexual harassment.  So what are we to make about an accuser  who's counsel makes in-your face political jokes about sexual assault allegations and who seemingly fashions herself after  Stifler's Mom?



Alas, the answer may be what “news”  is widely reported by the media.

No Lee-way for Craigslist Cheating Congressman

Second term Congressman Christopher Lee (R-NY 26th) resigned immediately after it became public that he was exchanging flirtatious e-mails with a woman under a fictitious identity on Craigslist. Now there will have to be a special election for New York 26th Congressional District.

According to Gawker, Rep. Lee answered an Women Seeking Men ad on the Washington edition of Craigslist.  The plucky ad copy seeks a photo exchange to ensure that she would not be kissing a toad in her old age.  He replied indicating that he was a classy 39 year old divorced lobbyist, while in actuality Chris Lee is a married 46 year old now former Congressman.

Within four hours, Rep. Chris Lee went from hints of denial to pledging to work it out with his wife, while vacating his seat.  Since Lee resigned almost immediately upon publication, it is currently unclear if Lee ever engaged in a dangerous liaison with his phantom flame. But what is clear is that ex-Congressman Chris Lee imprudently sent his cyber interlocutor a shirtless pose without his face obscured.

Democrat hacks have been circulating stories for months about Speaker Boehner having exposure in a sex scandal.  It is ironic that these are the same partisans who argued that President Clinton’s peccadillos were just about (extramarital) sex.  Considering the rapidity of Lee’s departure, if there is something to the whispers about the Speaker, these wagging tongues had better bring it quickly to build on the bandwagon.

Since Chris Lee resigned his seat so swiftly after this news broke, the Republican caucus probably exerted strong pressure for Lee to retreat from Capitol Hill so that the wound does not fester.  It seems that Republicans refuse to be tarred by sexual aspersions that would poison public perception and prevent detract the new Majority from governing.  The strategy seems to have worked as neither the national media nor broadcasts Between the Beltways mentioned the alleged affair and aftermath later that evening.

So expect that Republican caucus will not give any leeway to scandal, unlike former Speaker Pelosi who promised to have the most ethical Congress ever, but who certainly did not deliver.